Gov. Kaine commutes sentence day before execution

RICHMOND

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine commuted the death sentence Monday of Percy Levar Walton, saying the triple murderer is so psychologically impaired that his execution is unconstitutional.

Kaine commuted Walton's sentence to life without parole.

Walton, 29, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection tonight for the 1996 robbing and killing of three neighbors in Danville. He would have been the 100th person executed in Virginia since the state reinstituted its death penalty in 1982.

His attorneys say he is schizophrenic, has low intelligence and does not comprehend that execution would end his life.

A federal court halted his first scheduled execution in 2003 to determine whether he understood his circumstances. Kaine, in 2006, twice delayed Walton's death to further study his competency.

"I am again compelled to find that one cannot reasonably conclude that Walton is fully aware of the punishment he is about to suffer and why he is to suffer it," the governor said in a written statement, referring to a 1986 standard the U.S. Supreme Court established for executing mentally impaired people.

Kaine, a Democrat, said Walton has been observed closely for years and shown no change in behavior.

"He lives in a self-imposed state of isolation that includes virtually no interest in receiving or understanding information," Kaine wrote. "... He has nothing in his cell other than a mattress, a pillow and a blanket. He has no interest in contact with the outside world and has no television, radio, books or stationery. He has no personal effects of any kind. This minimal existence has been in evidence for the past five years."

Kaine also noted that Walton scored 66 on his most recent IQ test - 4 points below the standard for mental retardation.

F. Nash Bilisoly, one of Walton's lawyers, applauded Kaine's action. "He was very deliberate about it, and it is an appropriate and compassionate thing to do," he said.

Bilisoly said Walton is incapable of understanding his life has been spared. "He doesn't know it's Monday," he said. "He barely knows his name."

Kaine's decision was criticized by Attorney General Bob McDonnell. He noted that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 voted 7-6 that Walton was competent to be executed and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

McDonnell, a Republican, said Kaine should allow the court ruling to stand, saying "evidence of an inmate's competency is more effectively evaluated by a judicial officer" than a governor.

Kaine, a devout Roman Catholic, personally opposes the death penalty but pledged in his 2005 campaign to carry out the punishment. He has allowed five executions. Walton is the first death sentence he has commuted.

Walton pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Elizabeth Kendrick, 81; Jessie Kendrick, 80; and Archie D. Moore, 33, during home robberies. Each was shot in the head.

Irene Jurscaga, 87, of Suffolk told The Associated Press she is disappointed her sister's killer will not be put to death. "It's just another person our tax dollars have to feed," she said. "He isn't deserving to be alive, someone who committed such a heinous crime.

"He didn't give my sister and brother-in-law a chance. They begged for their lives."

Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com